In Defence of the Dork
by otakunerd247
Summary: Mark is having trouble with his homework, and tries to ask Randy for help. But Brad interrupts and starts teasing Mark. Will Randy finally stand up for his little brother for once? Set sometime after the episode Room for Change.


Mark sighed. He scribbled over yet another wrong answer on his math homework sheet. He was really trying, but he couldn't quite seem to get the hang of it.

Their teacher had assigned them some new algebra work that they hadn't really gone through yet and Mark found it pretty hard to understand - not that he would admit that to anyone. Usually he got math, but for some reason the problems weren't clicking in his head like they normally would.

"Hey dork," his brother Randy walked into their newly acquainted shared bedroom (which they were still trying to adjust to, after all Mark and Randy weren't exactly ever the best of friends) and collapsed on his new bed, reaching for the nearest comic book beside him and began reading.

Mark rolled his eyes. He was honestly sick of Randy and Brad gaining up on him every time they saw him. He thought that maybe sharing a room with Randy might mean they would come to some sort of understanding, but clearly that hasn't happened like Mark was hoping it would.

"Shut up, Randy," Mark replied, as he scribbled another answer out on his sheet of homework.

Randy laughed. "Is that all you got? Geez, how lame can you get."

Silence.

He wasn't going to ask. Mark refused. He _knew _Randy was the best at math, but he just couldn't ask him to -

"Hey... Randy?" Mark turned around in his seat at his desk to face his brother.

"What? Can't you see I'm reading here?" Randy snapped at him.

No, Mark couldn't let him win! He always backed down at this point, he wasn't going to let him get the better of him.

"Can I... I... kind of need... yourhelp," Mark said quickly. "I - um. I don't really get this math homework at all... it's due tomorrow, and it's going towards our final grade too... and I thought... maybe you could... help me a bit? Please?"

Mark saw Randy look at him. Mark thought he saw something in Randy's eye - a flash of hope rushed through Mark, and Randy was just about to speak when Brad came charging into the room (without knocking) at full force.

"Hey! Randy!" Brad seemed breathless like he had just gone for a quick jog.

Mark was furious. He was so close! There was no _way _that Randy would choose to help Mark over whatever Brad was about to offer to him instead. Mark turned away, hoping that he wouldn't start crying anytime soon. They'd probably just call him a big baby as usual.

"You wanna come with me to the park? All the kids are playing football, there are even a few girls watching there too! We gotta go!" Brad exclaimed. Randy hopped off his bed.

"Really? What are we sitting around here for? Let's go!" Randy replied eagerly. He went to grab his jacket when he suddenly turned around and saw a very sad looking Mark. Normally he would've been halfway to the park by now, chasing after Brad in the distance.

"Hey... Mark..." Randy started.

"You know what? Just go. I'll do it myself..." Mark continued scribbling answers out on his sheet of paper.

"Randy! You coming or what?" Brad came back into the room to see what was taking him so long.

Randy looked at Brad and then back at Mark. "... sorry Brad. I think I'm gonna stay here and help Mark with his homework."

"What? You'd rather stay here and help this loser with his homework rather than come to the park with _me_? Are you serious Randy? Maybe Mark is infectious, and his dorkiness is rubbing off on you," Brad laughed.

Mark looked down and rubbed furiously at his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt.

"Aw, and now the dork is crying. Seriously, how pathetic can you get!" Brad laughed even harder.

"Shut up, Brad, just leave him alone," Randy said, getting in Brad's face. For some reason Randy was mad all of a sudden. Normally he'd be joining Brad on poking fun at Mark but something compelled him to actually stand up for Mark for once.

Brad couldn't stop laughing. Randy was mad.

"I said shut UP BRAD!" Randy shoved his brother hard. Brad had quit laughing and looked solemn. He wasn't sure if he was going to hit his brother or not. "Leave him alone."

"Fine, whatever. I guess you're just as much of a dork as he is now. Looks like I won't be inviting you to the park any time soon... see ya losers!" Brad ran out of the room and down the stairs, leaving Randy and Mark alone once more.

"So which problems were you having trouble with?" Randy pulled up a chair next to Mark and they both leaned over Mark's sheet of algebra questions.

Mark was still in shock over what just happened. "Oh... um everything, I guess?"

Randy sighed. "Looks like it's gonna be a long night."

"Hey... Randy?" Mark inquired.

"Yeah?" Randy replied, and he glanced up from the sheet of paper to look at his brother.

"... thanks."

Randy smiled. "No problem, you big dork."

Mark rolled his eyes and grinned. Maybe sharing a room with Randy wouldn't be so bad, after all...


End file.
